August Outlook: August, Die She Must

13 Aug August Outlook: August, Die She Must

With the House in the middle of a prolonged five-week break from DC, the Senate returns to Washington this week after effectively killing this year’s traditional August recess (and apologies to Simon & Garfunkel for taking liberties with their lyrics). While some are already lamenting that such a truncated summer recess will be the norm going forward, the Senate looks to be fairly busy. On tap this week is consideration of a third “minibus,” and while no FY2019 spending bills have yet to make it to the President’s desk, the process continues in hopes that some will be signed by the end of September. With hearings on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh planned for early next month, after a brief delay, several financial services nominees are scheduled to be considered by the Senate Banking Committee (SBC) this month. Along with moving these nominees, in the coming weeks SBC, in coordination with the Foreign Relations Committee, is scheduled to hold several hearings on Russia sanctions. And with Washington still digesting and interpreting the results of last week’s special election in Ohio, nine more states have elections this month heading into the last legs of primary season in early September. We highlight these and other issues below as we preview what we believe will be the focus in Washington for this hopefully rare August work period, subject as always to external or unexpected events that could disrupt the schedule.